Firebird
by Anarchist's Rose
Summary: Chris thought Ashley needed to get out more, experience college in the way it's supposed to be experienced, but after the deaths of Josh, Em and Jess, Ashley doesn't feel like she can go out. Crashley. One-Shot.
It wasn't unlike Ashley to sit in her apartment alone and watch Netflix on her PS4. She preferred this to the alternative, which was going out, getting wasted, and putting herself in more danger than it was worth. She did not like that lifestyle. Her friends did though. Ever since the events on the mountain her friends have thrown themselves into drinking and parties and drugs -similarly how she threw herself into Netflix, but she ignored that- and other reckless behaviors she didn't want to take part in. Her friends didn't mind this, though. It meant there was always a DD.

Ashley wondered how they could throw themselves into having fun so easily. People died on the mountain. Jessica, Emily, Josh... none of them were ever coming back. While Ashley realistically couldn't have done anything to save them, she still felt like she should have done something to save them. She jut wanted to forget about that night. Maybe that's why everyone threw themselves into drinks?

Ashley jumped where there was a knock at her door. She ran over and looked through the peephole, sighing when she saw it was Chris. She unlocked the door and let him in. Coming in he gave her a large smile and a quick peck on the lips. Ashley could genuinely say the only good thing to come out of that night was her relationship with Chris, though she knew it would have been only a matter of time before they got together anyway.

She chuckled when she saw Chris look at what the television was paused on. "Come on, Ash! I thought we were going to watch Fullmetal Alchemist together!" She remembered making that promise.

"Well, I can always backtrack. I've seen the show before. I was the one who recommended it to you, remember?" She saw Chris shake his head and let out a sigh as he went to sit on the couch, taking up as much room as he possibly could. She laughed when his face scrunched up, his forehead wrinkling and his face having a sheer look of confusion. "What's that smell?"

"The guy's upstairs are smoking weed again. Really, you shouldn't be surprised to hear that at this point." Ashley went to sit next to Chris on the couch, tucking her legs underneath herself and resting her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. Who would have thought they would become so couple-y? If she was watching, or a third person in the room, she probably would have made fun at how couple-y they were being. They sat like this for a while, watching Netflix and making quippy remarks as the show went on. "So what brought you over here this time?" Ashley eventually asked. She enjoyed Chris' company, but he usually had a reason besides Netflix to come over.

"Actually, there's this block party downtown tonight. We were all going to go, you know, the gang, and we all thought it would be awesome if you came with us to this one." Ah. There it was. Ashley started to retreat and go defensive.

"I don't know, Chris. You know I don't like being around drunk people, even if it is you guys. I don't like crowds or super loud music, or getting drunk-"

"You don't have to drink then! You can be the DD! Come on, Ash. We're in college. We're supposed to be having the time of our lives! If you don't get out now, then when will you?"

Ashley sighed. She guessed she could do that. She wouldn't drink and she could make sure no one was getting themselves hurt. She could do that. "Alright."

"What?"

"I'll go."

"Really?" Chris looked shocked, but excited. "Awesome! Sam, Mike and Matt went to grab dinner, so we'll meet them at Sam's place."

"Okay. Let me go get ready, then," she pressed play on the show they had paused. "Keep watching. It's about to get to a good part."

"Right."

Ashley went into her room and looked at her closet, completely unsure what to wear. She didn't have Jessica or Emily's sense of style, though she did have Jessica's clothes, though that was only because Jessica's parents gave them all to Ashley because she was the only one they knew who would fit in them. "If I were Jessica, what would I wear?" She decided on a pair of high waisted skinny jeans and a v-neck t-shirt that showed much more boob than she expected. Ashley resisted the urge to put a sweater on over her outfit to hide things. "College is fun. I'm supposed to get out and do things." She heard Chris' laugh coming from her living room. "This will be a fun surprise for Chris."

She came out of her bedroom and made her way over to Chris as he made an surprised face at her. "Who are you and what have you done with Ashley?"

She blushed and gave a shy smile. "You like it?"

Chris got up off the couch and nodded. "Well, yeah, I do- I- I- I mean you always look great, but, wow, you know?"

Ashley let out a genuine laugh. She had not expected him to get so tongue tied. "Let me grab my purse and we can head over to Sam's."

"Kay."

The ride to Sam's started out peacefully enough. The two of them were talking and the top forties were playing in the background. They were having a conversation over what kind of dog Ashley would adopt next semester when Chris suddenly turned up the music. "This is my jam!" Ashley wanted to facepalm. The "jam" he was referring to was One Direction's Drag Me Down.

"You are such a dork!" His response to this was to turn the music up louder and sing along to the song completely off-key. Ashley would never admit this out loud but Chris' tendency to pull stunts like this was one of the reasons she liked him so much.

The song ended just as Ashley pulled into Sam's driveway. "Look who finally showed up!" Mike was sitting on the steps to Sam's place with a beer bottle in his hand. From the looks of him, he was already pretty drunk.

"Pre-gaming?" Ashley asked him.

"Oh, hell yeah! Best way to show up to a block party is to be already wasted!" Ashley just shook her head.

"I'll go in and grab Sam and Matt," Chris said. He left her outside with Mike.

"You know what, Ash?"

Ashley decided to humor him. "What?"

"You're like a bird, Ash! You're a mother fucking bird!"

Ashley had to laugh at drunk Mike. "Why am I a bird?"

Mike just shook his head. Ashley knew he was going to be so hung over in the morning. She wondered how many drinks he had already had. "You're just so free!" She knew she was going to have to keep a really close eye on him. She hoped Sam and Matt weren't this far gone. She didn't know if she could handle it. "Your hair makes you look like you're on fire. You're a fucking firebird!"

"Come on, Mike. Let's get you into the car." Ashley didn't judge Mike for being this way. She knew he had lost a lot on the mountain. He not only lost part of himself, two of his fingers, but also lost his girlfriend and ex-girlfriend. He was close to both of them. He had a lot to deal with, getting through this. She knew he drank a lot, probably drinking to forget, but she hoped he would stop eventually. She was just glad he wasn't an angry drunk or depressed drunk.

As if on cue, as soon as Mike was in her car, Chris emerged with Sam and Matt, who both looked relatively sober. Ashley said a silent prayer of thanks at this. "Hey guys!"

"Hey!" Ashley greeted Matt with a hug and Sam with the European kiss both cheeks thing. She didn't know when they started greeting one another like this, but she thought it was fun.

The group made their way to the block party, the boys sitting in the backseat of her car, Sam sitting shotgun and being the DJ, until Matt ripped the aux cord away from Sam and started playing Mambo Number Five and Bohemian Rhapsody.

The block party was everything Ashley imagined it would be: crowded, smelly, and full of drunk people. What she wasn't expecting was the amount of guys trying to hit on her. She wasn't used to this. Jess and Em were always the ones getting hit on. This was completely new territory for her and she didn't know how to fix it. At one point there was a very gross redneck who was at least ten years older than her trying to get her to go home with him. "Come on, babe! I can show you a good time!"

She looked desperately around for Chris, but then remembered he had to pee and was gone at the moment, and Mike, Matt and Sam had all gone to get a refill on beer. "No- no thanks."

The guy paused his advances momentarily, but not in a way that made Ashley comfortable. The contrary, actually. She felt the need to run away, but if she ran, then she would die. Staying still would keep her alive. If she stayed still he wouldn't find her, and he would leave her alone. Except he wasn't a wendigo. Staying still just made her an easier target. The band started playing Sangria and the creepy guy started forcing her to dance with him. She wanted to get away from him. She struggled to get away from him. _Chris? Where are you?_ "Leave her alone!"

Ashley jumped, and was surprised and relieved to see Chris standing there, Matt, Mike and Sam with him. None of them were completely sober, but they were all there at least. "What the hell dude? Go find some other chick to dance with! There's plenty here." Ashley struggled to release herself from his grip, but he wouldn't let go. "I gotcha, sweetheart. Don't you worry."

Ashley tried to speak up, tell him that those were her friends and boyfriend, but couldn't find the words to speak. She froze once again when she saw Chris, Matt and Mike walk over, all looking like they were willing to throw punches. She knew that was a terrible idea. She didn't want them to go to jail because of her. "That's my boyfriend, and those are my friends. Let me go you creep! Can't you take a hint?"

The guy let go of her almost immediately. "What the actual hell? You were the one leading me fucking on!" Anyone could see the guy was pissed, but she wasn't expecting to see a fist come flying at her face.

"Ashley!" Chris yelled. Luckily, Matt pulled her out of the way, Sam went to grab a security guy who was standing on the other side of the crowd, and Mike held Chris back, seeing that he wanted to hit the guy. Ashley was still stunned that she nearly got punched. Again. This was becoming a habit. Ashley tried not to think back to Josh as the psycho, though. She knew he was off his meds.

Sam came back with the security guy and the creepy redneck was taken away. Chris went over to Ashley and put an arm over her shoulders. "Are you ready to go?"

Ashley nodded. "Yeah. Sorry for ruining everyone's fun."

Chris kissed the top of Ashley's head. "Don't worry about it."

Sam spoke up, a devilish look was in her eye. "I've got some drinks back at my apartment. We can have fun there."

They made their way back to Sam's apartment and played a few drunken card games, while Ashley still supervised, sipping on her bottle of water. At the end of the night, it was decided everyone should just stay the night at Sam's place, which was fine with Ashley. She didn't feel like dropping everyone off at their respective apartments at two thirty in the morning. The only problem was the lack of sleeping places, but everyone made themselves comfortable besides that. Sam slept on her bed, Mike took the couch and Matt took a chair. That just left an air mattress. "You take it," Ashley insisted to Chris.

"No, you can have it."

Then Mike spoke up. "Y'all are dating. Just share the mattress. It's not a big deal, guys."

Chris shrugged and got on the mattress, getting underneath the homemade quilt Sam's grandmother had made. Ashley climbed in beside him, suddenly self conscious. What if she kicked him? What if she ended up completely on top of him? Ashley knew she was a sleep cuddler. Trying to ease herself, she whispered to him a joke about how much he had been drinking, though she knew he was relatively sober, especially compared to Mike. "You know you're not going to remember any of this in the morning."

Chris smiled at Ashley and whispered back to her, a cheeky grin on his glasses-less face. "Yeah I will, and you know why?"

Ashley smiled. "Why?"

"Because I remember every moment I spend with you." Ashley would have thought this was just some one-liner Chris picked up, but he looked so genuine when he said it, as genuine as when he held that gun up to his own head and pulled the trigger. Ashley couldn't stop herself. She kissed him passionately. Everything would be okay. She knew it would. Even if Josh, Jess and Em were gone, they would get through it. They would all get through it. Ashley could just tell.

* * *

 **This story was inspired by true events that happened to me, like having to be the DD for a bunch of drunk friends at a block party, and having a creepy redneck hit on me and forcing me to dance with him to that song Sangria… gross. Anyway, I hope y'all liked it! This was just a cute little Crashley story I've had in my head for a while.**


End file.
